CVO Social > Ride Report
California Covered Bridges Tours.....
JCZ:
I came across this link on the Pashnit Forum awhile ago..... http://www.dalejtravis.com/cblist/cbca.htm I've been to (and across) a few of these bridges but some I didn't even know about. I thought it'd be an interesting theme for some rides this year......contacted a few friends, laid out a route and the first day is history.
Andy, Don & Carol all rode over from the bay area yesterday and spent the night at our home. Jeff rode over this morning, showing up at about 7:45 a.m. in time for the 8:00 a.m. departure time.
Don & Carol trying to get their Nolan N-103 helmets paired correctly (he can hear her, but she can't hear him). By the way Don, Terrie and I had the same problem the last 20-25 miles this evening.....I could hear her, but she coudn't hear me). Not sure what that was all about. We just turned them of. As we exited the off ramp here by the house, we turned them back on and we re-connected and could both hear each other. :nixweiss:
We rode out Grant Line all the way to Folsom. Took a slight detour through Old Town.....for the benafit of our out of town guests to have a peek. Moved on up Auburn-Folsom Rd. to Auburn. We had plans to stop at Edelweiss House of Super Omelettes for breakfast. It's one of our regular breakfast stops when we're headed up the mountain that way. And never fail to meet some interesting people.
I met this ol' guy that had finished his breakfast about the time that we did. He had an old bike that had more than 250k miles on it. He said it started life as a Yamaha. Fenders from a BSA, fuel tank was made in England, etc. He also shared with us about his frustrations of to little of light at night in the mountains, but he solved that problem........he added a second headlight up on top. Not just any headlight. As he twisted the left hand grip, the new headlight would turn left or right as needed, depending on which way he was turning at night back up in the woods......
Leaving Auburn behind, we head up Hwy. 49 through Grass Valley and Nevada City to the first covered bridge on our list today.....
JCZ:
The first covered bridge on our list is just outside of Nevada City. It was a covered bridge for years however, was bought by an Interior Decorator and artist (oil paintings) and her husband and they converted it to their home. They named their new home, simply enough, The Bridge. When they bought it, it had been being used as a garage and had an old flat bed truck sitting in it that was broke down and basically abandoned......that and covered in spider webbs.
This home is on a very narrow, twisty, steep road and not much of any place for five bikes to pull over.......except right into their driveway. The gate was open so I snapped a pic of the front entry of the home.....
As we were getting ready to pack up and leave, after snapping the above photos, a gentlemen came out of the gate (we thought to chase us off his property) and inqured. I explained that we were doing a "California covered bridges tour" and showed him my list and some print outs of the bridges that we planned on visiting this day. He said that a lot of people stop to take pictures but was fascinated that we were riding a series of covered bridges and invited us into their home to view and take pics on the inside. I gladly accepted and followed him back through the gate..... As I entered the front door and wiped my feet, I quickly asked him if he minded if I took these pics and posted them on an internet motorcycle forum. I snapped this view from just inside the front door....
Besides being amazed at this home, I was also very impressed with the oil paintings (see Albert Einstein on the left, in the photo above) and inqured about those.
His wife is the interior decorator that designed the home and is also the artist that does the oil paintings and, as a matter of fact, she was busy painting one at that time......further down through the home near the left wall.
Here he is pointing to a picture of himself, that his wife painted many years ago, when he was much younger (she's sitting at her new work, just to the right of this photo being taken)....
Here are a number of photos of this home that I found on the net (after clicking on these links, then click on each photo to enlarge the photo).....
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.17830837166.36491.17830507166&type=3
http://www.facebook.com/notes/nevada-city-covered-bridge-house/for-sale-nevada-city-bridge-house/17906481758
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nevada-City-Covered-Bridge-House/17830507166#!/photo.php?fbid=17831217166&set=pu.17830507166&type=1&theater
Continuing on up Hwy. 49 as the weather is clearing, to our next covered bridge stop at Oregon Creek Covered Bridge....
JCZ:
There's the CVO krew......Don & Carol, Terrie, Andy and Jeff down on the bridge....
There's been a lot of gold pulled out of this river.......and a lot more remains......get your pans. ;D
and for those of you that were at the Tahoe GTG, you'll remember the live entertainment provided by Jeff on the riverboat......and here he is again.....
Next stop for us is the Oregon Creek Covered Bridge.....the oldest on the list of covered bridges. I can remember, as a child, riding in a car across this bridge (before the newer bridge was built). Later, it was still open to traffic however, it just went to a park and beach along the river and on the other side. Within the past few years, they've blocked off both sides to traffic and it's now open to foot traffic only.
We had a great time today. We experienced much more than any of us expected and we're all looking forward to visiting the other covered bridges in the future. :2vrolijk_21:
Skillet:
Looks like another great ride. As always thanks for the views.
JCZ:
We turn back south on Hwy. 49 through North San Juan headed for our next covered bridge....turning right onto Pleasant Valley Rd. to Bridgeport Covered Bridge. None of us had ever been on this road before and it proved to be a real treat for riding!
I saw the sign on the bottom right as we slowed to make the right turn. However, I didn't read the sign on the bottom left until I downloaded the pics onto my computer....
The Wells Fargo Express office of 1853.....
a great motorcycle road....the signs tell us it's going to be a great ride.....
15% Grade....
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